Multiple items cannot be crafted without things brought back from the workshop system. While it's something you can ultimately maybe probably live without, and you could even buy those materials (albeit at an insane markup) for those who are endgame crafters (like me!) not having access to a workshop through my FC means I can't make everything that I want to without relying on other players.

I've come to accept that they're never getting rid of the ward system, and no, just adding more wards won't help the problem (what happens if all but one house in a ward was to be demolished, for example), but there's a lot they can do to fix the issues. And SE's going to have to decide whether or not they want housing to be available to all or a few, because right now they're contradicting each other (saying they want to to be hard to get, then lowering prices, for example).